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View Poll Results: Distill all of your opinions and thoughts of this arc into a single number!

One Piece Arc Review / Retrospective - Punk Hazard

Since we're all on break and chewing off our thumbs as we "patiently" await a fresh One Piece fix, I thought: Why not offer up our opinions on completed One Piece arcs, as they come hot off the press?! And it just so happens that we just finished with a doozy!

Why in the hell does Caribou keep getting so much hype through TWO AND A HALF freaking arcs now?!

Personally, I loved it, and I would venture to say that this is an opinion that most would share. From the first intro to the mystery of an island that was both erupting and freezing over, the existence of a dragon, the tease of Law, and all the manly awesomeness he wrought, Punk Hazard started strong and never really let up. We were introduced to a pretty deadly big bad who was able to reveal more about the inner workings of the government. We got to see Luffy together with his BFF Smoker again, Zorro might have been forced to give Tashigi just a bit more respect, and Samurai are introduced--Along with a tease of NINJAS!

Spoiler!

:-P

And all that was before the arc dragged in a second, much more threatening Schichibukai, a freaking Yonkou, and a bloody former Marine Admiral!!!

To me, in the big picture the kids and the giantification subplot seemed to be the only extraneous/not-entirely-necessary part of the arc. But I suppose it gave Nami and Chopper some shine time, so I won't complain too much.

So yeah, what are your thoughts on Punk Hazard as a whole? The events that occurred therein, and the effect/relevance of those events on the plot going forward?

I agree, the mystery was amazing, the fight scenes were awesome, The characters introduced were cool, and the plot points that it introduces will probably effect how well the next few arcs go, which is good for the next few arcs because they are excellent plot points. I wasn't perfect, the Shinokuni was drawn out and turned out to be not that deadly at the end of the day, so it looses points for that, plus the fights, while amazing, still barely showed of what the Strawhats can do. Overall a great arc, I'd give it a 8.5

^^I had forgotten to evaluate that little bit: Shinokuni. It was introduced and played up to be a massive threat, but at the end of the day, I think that its Axolotl form was scarier. Cause at least then it was sentient. And could detonate into massive explosions. Anywho, I would've felt better to see its victims actually, you know, die. So as to prove that there was some consequences to things that happened--Caesar lying to ("take off the suits and just run") and experimenting on his men; G-5 soldiers sacrificing themselves to get Tashigi through the door. But as you said, it doesn't take much away from the arc as a whole!

And yeah, this has been the second arc in a row that has not tested the Strawhats new abilities against equally capable opponents :-/ Not necessarily stronger. Just capable.

For instance, Monet vs. Nami would've been a much better match than Monet vs. Zorro, an opponent against whom she had no chance. Nami wanted to take the kids, Monet wanted to make sure they stayed--it would've made much better television for them to fight it out. Seeing Nami take down a Logia would've been more satisfying than watching Zorro scare her to death :-P

Although Punk Hazard itself was a very great arc, I was left disappointed. We were jipped in what make arcs truly great. We missed out in things such as Sanji's espionage: It would have been much better if it was Sanji, not Law, who defeated Vergo and destroyed the SAD. We also were left out of Robin sharing info; instead we had Law and Robin barely said anything. I hope This is only for character development for her later on, being less competent than Usopp. Then we have Zoro who, so far, has made short work of the New World and being the only one who hasn't given any effort at all. Then there is Chopper; Using Monster point?
Now what I really didn't like about this arc was the fan reaction to it.